The invention relates generally to stethoscopes and, more particularly to the way stethoscopes are prepared for their intended user.
Stethoscopes have long been used by health care professionals to monitor acoustic communication. Typically stethoscopes have been comprised of a microphone or chestpiece, a sound transmission mechanism and an earpiece assembly. The chestpiece is adapted to be placed near or against the skin of a patient for gathering the auscultatory sounds. The sound transmission mechanism transmits the gathered sound to an earpiece, or a pair of earpieces called a binaural, where the physician or other health professional may monitor the sound.
Recently, some stethoscopes have utilized electronics for at least part of the sound processing path. In most of these devices, the auditory sound is picked up by a microphone usually located in a detection device which is similar to the chestpiece of a conventional acoustic stethoscope in external appearance. The electrical signal from the microphone is then processed electronically and is coupled to a speaker, or speakers, where the electrical signal is converted back into an auditory sound for reception by the health care professional. Of course, other electronic analysis or display of the auscultatory sound may be performed by the signal processor, in addition to the usual conversion back into an auditory sound.
Stethescopes commonly include a tubing assembly having twin, smooth-walled sound pathways extending from the chestpiece to the ear tips. Preferably these pathways are free of sound leakage and each pathway has a constant diameter along its entire length. Often preferred stethoscopes contain a pair of passageways formed in flexible tubing that is molded side-by-side in a one-piece construction for a major portion of the distance between chestpiece and ear tubes. In such constructions, each pathway is conveniently a lumen within a dip-molded polymeric tubing assembly, the two lumens being separated by a wall. Stethoscopes made in this way have enjoyed commercial success as the Littmann(trademark) Cardiology and Master Cardiology stethoscopes, available from 3M Company of St. Paul, Minn.
Typically in such constructions, the final product of the tubing assembly intended for connection to the chest piece is molded in predetermined lengths of tubing assembly. Each length that is to be offered to a customer must be inventoried separately, both by the manufacturer and the distributor. If a wide range of colors or other custom features are to be offered even more must be inventoried. The present art lacks a way of providing the acoustic benefits of a twin lumen construction while at the same time minimizing inventory.
The present invention solves this problem by providing a specialized chest piece that will adapt to a dual lumen binaural, without that binaural having a molded-in connection. This allows binaurals for stethoscopes to be manufactured in a generic fashion at the maximum desirable length on the expectation that they can be cut down to the length the customer desires at the time of assembly.
More particularly, in one aspect the present invention provides a stethoscope having at least one pair of elongated ear tubes and a chestpiece in acoustic communication with the elongated ear tubes. The chestpiece is in acoustic communication through an adapter comprising a hollow stem, with this stem having a slot therein. A tubing assembly acoustically connects the at least one chestpiece to the ear tubes. The tubing comprises a wall that defines separate twin passages extending throughout the length of the tubing and that is adapted for connecting to the slot of the hollow stem of the chestpiece thereby forming twin air columns extending between the at least one chestpiece and the upper ends of the ear tubes.
Alternatively, the present invention provides a stethoscope having a binaural and a chestpiece in acoustic communication with that binaural. The chestpiece has at least one microphone in acoustic communication with a hollow stem, with this stem having a slot. The binaural is of the type with a tubing assembly having twin, smooth-walled sound pathways extending from the chestpiece to the ear tips. Each pathway contains a lumen within a dip-molded polymeric tubing assembly with the two lumens being separated by a wall. In a preferred embodiment, a stethoscope is provided in which the pair of pathways formed in the flexible tubing are molded side-by-side in a one-piece construction for a major portion of the distance between chestpiece and ear tubes. Preferably these pathways are free of sound leakage and each pathway has a constant diameter along its entire length. Upon assembly, the tubing assembly engages the stem with the wall disposed within the slot. In most preferred embodiments the binaural will have a pair of ear tubes, each ear tube in acoustic communication with one of the lumens.
In another aspect, the present invention comprises a method of providing a custom stethoscope to a customer, comprising the steps of 1) fabricating a chest piece comprising at least one chestpiece in acoustic communication with a hollow stem, the stem having a slot therein; 2) fabricating elongated ear tubes having twin passages separated by a wall; 3) cutting the tubing assembly to a desired tubing assembly length as determined by a customer; and 4) assembling the stethoscope by engaging the tubing assembly with the stem, with the wall disposed within the slot.
The present invention also comprises a method of providing a custom stethoscope to a customer, comprising the steps of 1) fabricating a microphone comprising at least one microphone in acoustic communication with a hollow stem, the stem having a slot therein; 2) fabricating binaurals having twin lumens separated by a wall; 3) cutting the tubing assembly to the desired tubing assembly length as determined by a customer; 4) assembling the custom stethoscope by engaging the tubing assembly with the stem, with the wall disposed within the slot. Additionally, at least one additional feature of the stethoscope can be customized from the group consisting of tubing assembly color, microphone type, and eartip type.
The present invention overcomes many of the drawbacks associated with the prior art methods by enabling the manufacturing of the binaurals in a generic (i.e. uniform) fashion at the maximum desirable length with the expectation that they can be cut down to the length determined by the customer. These and other objects of the present invention will be apparent in view of the following description of the invention and the preferred embodiments.